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ENDORSfNG THE U.S. MAYORS' CLIMATE PROTECTION AGREEMENT <br /> WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has previously adopted strong policy <br /> resolutions calling for cities, carr�munities and the federal government to take <br /> actions to reduce global warming pollution; and <br /> WHEREAS, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), fhe <br /> international community's most respected assemblage ofi scientists, is clear that <br /> there is no longer any credible doubt that climate disruption is a reality and that <br /> human activities are largefy responsible for increasing concentrations of global <br /> warming pollution; and <br /> WHEREAS, recen#, wefl-documented impacts of climate disruption inciude <br /> average giobaf sea level increases of four to eight inches during the 20th century; <br /> a 40% decline in Arctic sea-ice thickness; and nine of the ten hottest years on <br /> record occurring in the past decade; and <br /> WHEREAS, climate disruption of the magnitude naw predicted by the scientific <br /> community will cause extremely costly disruption of human and nafural systems <br /> throughout the world including: increased risk of floods or droughts; sea-level <br /> rises that interact with coastal storms to erode beaches, inundate land, and <br /> damage structures; more frequent and extreme heat waves, more frequent and <br /> greater concentrations of smag; and <br /> WHEREAS, on February 16, 2005, the Kyato Protocol, an international <br /> agreement to address climate disruption, went inta effect in the 141 countries <br /> that have ra#ified it to date; 38 of those countries are now legally required to <br /> reduce greenhouse gas emissions on average 5.2 percen# befow 1990 levels by <br /> 2012; and <br /> WHEREAS, #he United States of America, with less than five percent of the <br /> world's population, is responsible for producing approximately 25% of the world's <br /> global warming pollutants; and <br /> WHEREAS, the Kyoto Pro#ocol emissians reduction target for the United States, <br /> woufd have been 7% below 1990 levels by 2012; and <br /> WHEREAS, many leading Unites States companies that have adopted <br /> greenhouse gas reduction programs to demonsfirate corporate social <br /> responsibility have also publiciy expressed preference for the United States ta <br /> adopt precise and mandatary emissions targets and timetables as a means by <br /> which to remain competitive in the internationa! marketplace, to mitigate financial <br /> risk and to promote sound investment decisions; and <br />